Montreal Facilities Collaborate on VES-Nominated Source Code
When visual effects supervisor Louis Morin and VFX producer Annie Godin were nominated for a VES Award for their work on Duncan Jones’ Source Code, the Montreal-based facilities involved in the film had reason to celebrate as well. Under the guidance of Morin, the VFX facilities each took on different parts of the project, sharing assets and coordinating deliveries on the film. The result was both a visually stunning film and proof that the Montreal film industry can compete with the best on the world stage.
“Louis Morin is a very effective and creative VFX supervisor,” said director Duncan Jones. “He found really excellent boutique facilities that were able to craft individual, and very different kinds of effects that we needed in the movie.”
The four Montreal-area studios included Modus FX, who handled complex digital crowd shots, CG trains, environments and dramatic pyrotechnics; Rodeo FX, who crafted the crucial greenscreen windows for the train interiors; FLY Studio, who created the futuristic CG pod sequences and key transitions; and Oblique FX, who created the CG bomb, a virtual stuntman and a poetic slow-motion explosion sequence. Toronto-based Mr. X contributed to the greenscreen train window backgrounds and MPC Vancouver handled the exterior shots of explosions and a train crash sequence.
“In the grand scheme of things, this was not a big-budget film,” said Jones. “That meant we had to be fairly specific about the FX we wanted. We couldn’t play around with too many ideas. We really couldn’t afford to make mistakes.”
"We had 850 shots to manage and a budget of $3.5 million dollars," said Morin, “and for most of the film you would have no idea that visual effects were even used. The train, the cabin interiors and the station all look like real. The goal was seamless visual effects where the audience is simply immersed in the story.”
30/1/2012